The way the discouraging news is pouring in this offseason, Mets co-owner Fred Wilpon might not want to answer the team hotline in his office.

Not only have the Amazin’s missed out on a bevy of free-agent and tradable talent – A-Rod, Mike Mussina and David Wells, to name three – but every time a major league city confronts the cost of building a new stadium, it appears Wilpon will be digging deeper and deeper into his pocket for his own field of dreams.

The latest bit of discouraging news is that a task force in Minnesota has determined the Twins should shoulder 50 percent of the cost of a new stadium. That amounts to $150 million for billionaire Carl Pohlad, the Twins’ longtime owner.

What does this have to do with the Mets?

Well, Pohlad had balked at shelling out anything over $100 million for his $400 million retractable-roof stadium. But the good folks of Minneapolis refused to underwrite such a large percentage of the cost of a stadium that would only make Pohlad, already one of the wealthiest persons in the state, worth $1.7 billion, much wealthier.

So they backed out of the $100 million cost of the roof and determined that, at $300 million, it would be a fair deal for public money to support half the cost. Pohlad would have to come up with $150 million – plus the cost of the roof.

Pohlad’s plan in America’s heartland sounds very similar to Wilpon’s here in Gotham City.

Wilpon wants to build a $500 million retractable-roof stadium but wants to get it on the cheap, according to persons familiar with the talks, which have been long stalled. Mayor Giuliani, these people say, doesn’t want to pay for 75 percent of the cost of a new stadium because, should he give away the farm on this one transaction, he knows the Yankees, Jets, Knicks, Rangers and MetroStars will want an equally rich deal.

City Hall had suggested to Wilpon months ago that he not include the retractable roof in his dreams, that he pay for that on his own.

The report insists that the city insist on certain points in its negotiations, including: that it get a piece of the profit should the team, worth more because of the stadium, be sold soon thereafter; that the team include a significant number of affordable seats in the new stadium; and, that the stadium be available to the community free-of-charge for a limited number of dates a year.

Hey, those points sound like a good idea for the Mets and Yankees, too.